


Fading Sins

by shelikesmyspark



Category: One Direction (Band), Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Blood Drinking, Bottom Louis, Boys In Love, Character Turned Into Vampire, Conflict, Falling In Love, First Love, Forbidden Love, Forgiveness, High School, Human Louis, Love, Love Triangles, Love/Hate, M/M, Minor Violence, Redemption, Top Harry, True Love, Vampire Bites, Vampire Harry, Vampires, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2020-11-25 18:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20916548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelikesmyspark/pseuds/shelikesmyspark
Summary: Wheels locked, the truck spun, sliding over a puddle. Louis gasped, eyes widening, and dropped his book; the beige wall of metal flew right towards him, and he didn’t even have time to react other than to press himself against his own car and shut his eyes to brace for an impact.A freezing cold hand pressed against his chest, making Louis open his eyes. The other hand of the person was outstretched, pressed against the side of the now stopped truck, a wide circular dent in the place where the boy’s hand had… stopped it. He stopped the truck.Long brown hair flowed in Louis’ vision, his breath quick and panting but definitely not dreaming. It was Harry, who stood up quickly, only glancing momentarily at Louis before in the blink of an eye he was just… gone. One second he was there, the next, there was no Harry, just Louis shaking between his Volkswagen and the truck that should have crushed him.--Or, the one where Harry is 210 years old and falls for 17 year old Louis. What could go wrong?





	1. Where It Ended

**Author's Note:**

> Have I finished my other WIP? Nope. Did I rewatch fucking Twilight twice and decide I’m hot for vampire boys and decide to start another story? I absolutely did. Twilight is definitely not the best movie in the world but it gives me nostalgia and I hate to say I love it. So I’m going to write a Louis/Harry fic based on it. I promise I’m still working on the other story, I actually have the third chapter typed up (I have for a while now) but something just doesn’t sit right with me about it and I don’t want to publish it until I feel I get the mood right.
> 
> I’m probably going to follow the original storyline a bit heavily at first because I did like it, but not too much further in. Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> This first chapter will be short. All but this chapter will be in Louis’ view. This is from Harry’s perspective because I wanted to show his ‘death’. Also, I literally looked through dozens of original newspapers from this time just to be historically accurate and it is such a waste of time.

Pinching thin paper between his fingers, Harry flipped the page he held. His breath was visible in the chilled breeze, each falling of his chest creating a temporary fog around his face. Crisp, cold air bit his cheeks, one of the only areas he had left bare for the winter chill. Even under all the layers he was wearing, the stone curb he sat on still froze his thighs. If he hadn’t forgotten that it was Sunday, and near everything would be closed, he wouldn’t have bothered to come all this way. However, after having walked thirty minutes from home only to find the pub wasn’t open, he thought he at least deserved to take a break and sit before heading back.

Disappointed that he wouldn’t be having a roast lunch, but still determined to make a day of it, he strolled for a moment to find something to do. A young boy on the walkway had sold him a copy of the paper for cheap enough, so he had settled down on the curb on a quiet side street. Sunday, January third, it read, and he scoffed at himself for his mistake on the date. At least he knew the year- 1808, printed boldly next to the title ‘The London Chronicle’. Not his favorite paper, a little too gossipy for his liking, but it was what the paperboy had so it was what he would take. Just as he expected, the first article wasn’t much more than chin-wagging about the American president. Rumors of another war, nothing that he really believed or cared about. If it was another war, then so be it, just another on the pile. He was lucky that he was too young, still, to be forced to fight. It wouldn’t be the case by later that year when he turned eighteen, but that was long enough away.

He was a bit of a pacifist himself. Many men came home from battles proudly flaunting a headcount, healing wounds, missing fingers. While he respected their bravery, the idea of a war-stricken land filled with blood, bodies, air dense with the smell of death- it did not in any way appeal to him. Personally he didn’t see how anyone would enjoy that, and he could only hope he’d never get forced into it one day.

Half an hour or so of sitting later, he decided he was chilly enough and it was time to head home. Folding the paper neatly, he held it in his hands as he stood. With a yawn, he started on his way home. If the sky wasn’t thick with clouds it might be sunny, but instead, there was only a yellow speck to show where the sun sat high in the noon sky behind dreary winter fog. At this time of day, especially on a Sunday, most people were inside having a midday meal after morning mass. The only stragglers were a few beggars braving the cold, and paperboys calling out for their sales. Nearing his home, it was even more sparsely populated. The residential area was just quiet homes with yellow-lit windows, the street thin and shadowed by the buildings.

A strike to his back sent Harry tumbling to the ground, face first. He only managed to turn enough to land on his shoulder, grunting in pain as he felt the concrete collide with his body. Gasping for air after the fall knocked it out of him, he breathed, “What-”

Firm, cold hands grabbed him by his coat, and faster than he thought possible he was picked up and pushed against the brick wall just inches from his front door. Cheek against the rough stone, he breathed quickly, attempting to struggle but finding that whoever was holding him there had more strength than any other person he’d ever met. His chest was practically crushed against the wall, and finally, he took the option to shout. Judging by the close-packed homes he knew someone would hear him, and hopefully soon enough. 

“Help! Thief!” He screamed, but not for long. Scarf now ripped from his neck, he was silenced when the most searing pain he’d ever felt sunk into his neck, and his mouth simply hung open in shock, all of the air seeming to leave his body. Within moments he was feeling faint, knees buckling, held up only by the strong hands grasping his arms.

Eyes rolling back in his head, they fluttered. 

He was about to die, he was sure. Now aware that he must have been stabbed in the throat or something of the like. This was it, dead in an alley in front of his own house. And for what, his wallet? How shameful.

The pain stopped for a moment, and he heard a curt, low chuckle. His neck was suddenly numb, no pain, no cold, just numbness. Whatever had been sunk into his flesh was gone, leaving no feeling behind. Only shortly, because it came back with a vengeance. Throbbing, then needles, hundreds of pins going through his veins, down his neck through his body. Letting out a blood-curdling scream, the hands holding him let go, allowing Harry to collapse on the ground, writhing, kicking. Boiling sensations filled his body, and despite the weather, he felt like he was on fire.

Though he couldn’t bear to open his eyes, he knew whoever had done this to him was gone. Windows opened above him, neighbors staring down in shock at what they assumed to be a man gone crazy down below. They all apparently chose to mind their own business, because Harry lay there for what felt like ages, screeching and panting in pain before finally blacking out.

  
  


Blinking, Harry awoke to black night skies. Stars speckled the air above him, between clouds that dropped flakes of snow over him. But he wasn’t cold. Nothing hurt. What should have been freezing cobblestone beneath him felt… room temperature, at most, when in reality it just felt hard. The gas street lamp above him didn’t even give off any warmth. Other than analyzing the lack of temperature around him, there were a few other things readily alerting him.

He wasn’t breathing. Surprised, and assuming that of course he needed to breathe, he attempted to draw air in. Even as his chest rose and fell manually, he didn’t feel like it was needed. Doing this a few more times, and not sensing any sort of physical relief by doing so, he allowed himself to stop again. His body just wasn’t commanding itself to do so, and even after he laid there for at least a full minute without taking a breath, there was no pain in his lungs from a lack of precious oxygen. There just was no apparent reason to force himself to breathe, so he didn’t, and even if his heart should be racing in a situation like this, it simply wasn’t. 

After the apparent stabbing he’d just experienced, he expected to at least be bleeding and sore. Instead, he felt perfectly fine, if anything he felt great, and it took little effort for him to stand. Looking around, he saw no signs of blood on the ground. Nothing to show for… Whatever it was that happened. Had it all just been a nightmare?

Brushing off the snow from the front of his clothes, Harry paused and sniffed the air. It seemed to happen against his will, he just couldn’t help but draw in the scent that drifted from an open window above him. An airy, floral aroma carried from the shadow of a woman on the second floor.

Harry stared up, eyes blinking as he processed this feeling. No pain, no desire for breath, just hunger. The tempting fragrance drew him in, and all he could feel was hunger.


	2. Dented Death

Rain pattered the window of Louis’ bedroom. Like it had the day before, and the one previous, as it had nearly all week and it would for the next one as well. If there was one thing here that reminded him of home, it was the nearly constant ambient noise of rain outside. Other than that, Washington was a different world almost entirely. Rather than shared walls between neighbors, the single-story homes here were decently far apart. The spaces between were thick with orange vine maple, flowering white dogwood, lush kelly green grass kept long. Every area not occupied by people seemed to be full of natural growth. Just glancing out the window he would see anything from deer, coyotes, rabbits, or occasionally past the trees behind his room he would see the neighboring rancher’s bison grazing. He had to admit it was pretty, but it wasn’t home.

Willapa itself had nothing much there other than homes, the elementary school, and a winery. Otherwise, it was a ten minute drive to the next town over, where over the past week they had found the few things there were to do. His mom had dragged him to a carriage museum, where he got to see, well, carriages. Just a building filled with old carriages, sleds, loads of creepy mannequins and fake horses. More than anything there were churches everywhere, at least one for every few miles.

So far they’d spent every night of the week they’d been there eating at the diner in Raymond. The Salmot Diner at least offered a good meal, even if the 50’s themed American decor seemed a little cheesy to him. All the neighbors went there at least once a week, because by Sunday evening Louis and his mom had met a fair number of them- or at least the ranchers and older folks that most frequented the place. Louis had only managed to see glimpses of the local high schoolers. Westport, the next largest town, was apparently the best destination for kids his age, so outside of school there weren’t too many of them wandering Willapa or Raymond.

While the Willapa Bay was a popular destination nearby, the reason that tourists often passed through town, it was the off season for visitors in November. Constant rain that month deterred even residents from going very often. The bay itself was about a half hour away from Willapa, and surrounded by various parks and the ever-present glaze of endless wildlife. 

Finally, after a week of settling in, signing up for phone plans, waiting for their cars to arrive, and in general trying to ward off boredom, Louis was starting school again. It was mid-November, making him the only new student at Willapa High- not that the school ever had many new students, other than incoming freshmen. But he was starting in the middle of the year as a junior from literally across the world, and having never seen a public American school in person. Glorious.

Early Monday morning he woke to the rain and the binging alarm on his phone. Being as he wasn’t used to not having a uniform pre-arranged for school, he had gotten an outfit together the night before and laid it over his desk chair. Unashamedly he had googled ‘american high schoolers’ to avoid the mistake of over or under dressing. The results were everything from early-2000’s-esque teen movies and what looked more like ads for ASOS, but he managed to gather a middle of the ground pairing of a jumper, pants, and for the rain, a hooded windbreaker. 

As he stepped outside, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a deep breath of the humid, yet chilly air. Rain dripped on his nose, a breeze biting his cheeks. Though it rained a lot where he was from, probably even more than here, it wasn’t the same. The air here was heavier, strongly scented by the wilderness around him, always making him feel a little sticky even though it was November. He’d never been more thankful for dehumidifiers, which they now kept in every room and were constantly pouring out.

His car stuck out like a sore thumb in this town. In Doncaster, he probably saw around ten cars just like his every day. But here, his compact Volkswagen contrasted to the oversized Jeeps, Land Rovers, and beat up pickups. He supposed that wasn’t too bad- at least it contrasted in a good way, because he thought it looked a good bit prettier than the other cars he saw here.

The drive to school was short, and another thing he wasn’t used to. In Doncaster, he never drove anywhere- he only had a licence for the occasions when he would drive to see his sisters, all older, living a little too far away to walk. His mom had only bought his car a few months ago, when she decided to move to the states.

Out of curiousity, he’d already driven past the school once in the past week. Today, though, he saw it occupied for the first time. Every kid his age from Willapa or Raymond went here, along with all the kids from the outskirts of the towns. So despite the tiny population of each town on its own, put together, there were at least 900 students here. Still not many, but the parking lot was more full than he expected when he pulled in. 

Heads turned as soon as his car came down the hill into the lot. Every student rushing into the building to get out of the rain suddenly slowed down, just to stare at the silver little car driving in. 

“Well, that’s nice,” Louis grumbled to himself, parking in a visitor spot- the other spots were all numbered, and he assumed he would need a parking pass for those if he didn’t want towed. Once parked, it was time to face the new school. He grabbed his bag, took a breath, and got out.

Walking in, nobody bothered him yet. With his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, and hurrying inside, the most he got from the other students were curious glances in his direction. His first destination was the front office, where he introduced himself. Clearly they were expecting him, because the administrator there already had a manilla folder to give him. Filled with papers, everything from his class schedule, a calender of lunch options, to the rather kind addition of a list of local attractions.

On the top of the list was the carriage museum. How exciting.

Classes went about as smoothly as he expected, which was not at all. Every room he stepped into started with turning heads, and it became clear right away that all the other students had been informed of his coming ahead of time. New students were obviously a rare occurrence. In short, he was immediately asked to introduce himself, which always was followed by a cooing of oh’s and ah’s at his accent.

“I’m Louis, I’m from the UK. My mother is opening the grocer in Willapa.” This was the blunt explanation he gave to each group, which seemed unnecessary since he saw many of the same faces in several of his classes. 

Lunch was the first period that he had to will himself to extend his conversation. His mother had convinced him that he should buy his lunch rather than bring it, at least for his first day, so he went ahead through the line. A slice of pizza, which was familiar, but he was given something strange that he didn’t recognize but didn’t want to question. Little golden-brown tubes of something. Fun. With his tray in hand, he turned to the tables, and tapped his foot.

He’d met a few of the people around already, but caught the eye of a girl he had come across earlier in math. Angela, who had briefly caught him up in the class, and texted him pictures of the last few days of notes. She immediately smiled at him, and waved him over, so with little thought he nodded and headed on over. At least he’d have somewhere to sit.

There were only two other people at the circular table, who introduced themselves, and right away the conversation turned to Louis. Where was he from, where he lived in Willapa, how did he like the weather, had he been to the beach yet. All the while he was eating, but left the unidentified objects on his tray when he was finished.

“Going to eat those? I’ll have them,” the blonde boy they were sat with asked him. He’d introduced himself as Will, but Louis had yet to get to know him or anyone else very well since everyone only seemed to want to know about him.

“Oh, no. You can have them,” Louis shrugged, pushing his tray towards him. “What are they?”

“What are they? Tater tots,” Will chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him.

This answered exactly nothing for Louis, who only laughed right back, asking, “What the hell is a tater tot?”

“Po-ta-to, man. Try it,” returning the tray, Louis caved and picked one up to try. As he did, the door leading outside opened, and he glanced over to it. A group of kids were walking in, despite the rain outside.

Angela caught him looking and immediately answered the question he hadn’t even asked yet. “Those are the Delarosa’s. They’re all adopted. And, like, together. Together together.”  
In walked a strange variety of people. All a touch pale, but nothing more extreme than anyone else in this dreary town. 

“That’s Zayn, and he’s with Niall,” Angela narrated, as a tall, dark haired boy came in with a blonde. Zayn’s arm was hooked around the other’s waist, raising Louis’ eyebrow.

“And they’re siblings?” He questioned quietly, quickly answered by another girl at their table.

“Not technically, they’re all adopted by Dr. Delarosa. Adoptive dad and apparently matchmaker. But, still, that’s weird, right?”

“Look, that’s Liam, he’s with Lynnette,” Angela continued, discreetly describing the second couple.

Finally, a single set of feet came through the door. “And he’s Harry. Literally the hottest guy here, but apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him,” she explained, scoffing, despite sounding a bit annoyed.

To say the least Harry looked a little underdressed for the weather. Bare, strong arms dripped with rain came out of a plain grey tee. No jacket, so no hood, and his long dark locs were glinting with wet droplets. Angela was right- he easily was the hottest guy he’d seen there so far. Or in general. Harry looked up, seeming to canvas the room for a minute before stopping at Louis. 

Met with the most vibrant green eyes he’d ever seen, Louis’ breath caught a bit. He couldn’t help but stare, enjoying the view until the eyes squinted at him. The blemishless nose scrunched, and Louis saw Harry was quite literally grimacing at him. With a blink, Harry’s head snapped away, the boy quickly going back to following his weird ‘family’.

“What the hell,” Louis grumbled, “That was a bit rude.”

“Did he just make that face at you? Ouch,” Angela murmured, before shrugging. “Don’t take it personally. He’s pretty cold, literally doesn’t talk to anyone. Like, not a word.”

\---

The next few days passed without much incident, other than one thing.

Louis had a Biology lab with Harry as his last class, and seeing as else already had a partner, they were put together.

Harry never said a word to him, but every time they made eye contact, Harry scrunched his nose and looked in the opposite direction. Once, even, the breeze of an open window had blown past them. When Harry apparently caught a whiff of Louis, he put his hand over his face, covering his nose.

What. The. Hell.

It was really starting to tick him off, and Louis went home every day and steamed about what he would say the next day to Harry, but never did it. He wanted to press about what the other’s problem was with him, why he was so damn rude, why he didn’t even bother to say hello or introduce himself to his lab partner. But he never did it. Day after day, he just put up with it, right up until the weekend passed and another monday began.

That day, Louis walked into Biology, and looked to see that as usual Harry was already there. The other’s tall frame occupied the small stool, either of his elbows rested on the table with his hands together. This time, however, the green eyes looked over at him as soon as Louis sat.

“Hello,” A deep, honey voice greeted, with the surprisingly familiar chime of a posh drawl.

Louis turned to look at him, blinking for a second before returning the greeting. “Hi,” he hummed, tilting his head a bit. 

“Sorry for not introducing myself earlier,” Harry explained, one of his fingers tapping slowly on the table. “I’m Harry. From Redditch.”

“Louis. I’m from Doncaster. You keep glaring at me, why?” The days of brooding over this made Louis quite blunt, deciding to get some answers.

Harry paused, his eyes drifting away, looking towards the front of the room. “Right, sorry… I’ve got a bad resting face. Didn’t mean to offend you. Anyway… it’s nice to meet you.”

It didn’t seem like the truth, but Louis didn’t feel much like forcing it out of him. Especially not at the moment, as the teacher was beginning class. Maybe another day he would, however for the time he was fine with brushing it off since Harry had reconciled whatever he disliked about him over the weekend. 

The class passed easier now that Louis didn’t feel like he was bothering his lab partner. Now, they managed to cooperate on the little lab project, and actually handed it in on time since they worked together on it instead of doing it solo. They both left the class in peace, parting ways to walk to their own cars.

Louis had by then managed to get a parking pass, only to receive a spot in the very back. The rain had cleared up that day, so at least he was able to walk without rushing to his spot. For the past few school days, it became routine for him to wait for the traffic to clear up before leaving, since there was only one exit and there was no reason to try waiting in line with everyone else. Across the lot, all the way at the front of the school, he could see the Delarosa’s, doing the same, all lingering outside of the two cars they shared. They were the only other people in town who drove anything similar to Louis, nothing suitable for the off-roading or ranch work that the rest of the town had. Harry was propped aside a red Nissan, a clearly expensive one, looking shiny and rather new even from so far away.

Pulling his history book from his bag, he leaned against the back of his car boot, settling to wait there in the decent weather. 

Loud, screeching wheels made his head snap up. A tan pickup had peeled into the parking lot, far too fast, occupied by two teenage boys apparently having a bit of fun. The look on their faces behind the windshield quickly changed when a car started to back out, and Louis watched as the boy driving jerked the wheel.

Wheels locked, the truck spun, sliding over a puddle. He gasped, eyes widening, and dropped his book; the beige wall of metal flew right towards him, and he didn’t even have time to react other than to press himself against his own car and shut his eyes to brace for an impact. 

A freezing cold hand pressed against his chest, making Louis open his eyes. The other hand of the person was outstretched, pressed against the side of the now stopped truck, a wide circular dent in the place where the boy’s hand had… stopped it. He stopped the truck.

Long brown hair flowed in Louis’ vision, his breath quick and panting but definitely not dreaming. It was Harry, who stood up quickly, only glancing momentarily at Louis before in the blink of an eye he was just… gone. One second he was there, the next, there was no Harry, just Louis shaking between his Volkswagen and the truck that should have crushed him.

Within seconds he was rushed by dozens of students, hands picking him up from where he’d crouched on the ground.

“Call 911!”  
“Oh my god, is he dead?”  
“Louis, Louis, are you okay?”

The boy couldn’t do much but stare off into space. What could that have been other than a hallucination? Some fearish dream of a boy saving him from certain death by stopping a truck with his bare hands? It had to be a dream, but then, what stopped the truck? He was alive and the truck was just dented in the place where his guts should be splayed.

Looking to the front of the lot, he watched as the Delarosa’s piled into their cars, briefly making eye contact with Harry before they sped off around the other stopped vehicles and out of the lot.


	3. Botanist's Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go on a field trip and Louis takes advantage of the alone time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahahahahaha sooo... long time no see? I'm not dead (although the Rona might end up getting me). Long story short I was in a really bad relationship situation and I recently left it so it's been hard for me to re-motivate myself to write. But I'm back so that's cool.

Despite commotion around him, Louis couldn’t think about anything but Harry’s strong, freezing cold hand pressed against his chest. The scene kept replaying in his head, all through paramedics checking him over, through the short ambulance ride. Bent steel having been stopped in its tracks by a human hand. No other explanation, no magical telephone pole or otherwise anything else that could have stopped it. Louis knew he should be dead, pinned between two vehicles. He wasn’t though. He was alive and breathing, now in the local emergency doctor’s office.

The emergency department was more of just a single room, a large building seperated by curtains. Louis was sitting on a stretcher, his thumbs twiddling, eyes focused on a wall while his mind raced. His mother was already there, having arrived just a few minutes after him. She was sitting in the plastic chair next to the bed, her hand on his knee rubbing it gently. She’d asked him about what happened, begged to know details, but beyond saying he was okay, he wasn’t sure what to tell her. Everyone was asking questions about what happened, but what was he supposed to say? That the superhuman super hot classmate of his had halted his death from occurring? One moment a death machine was sliding towards him, and the next, he was alive and fine and sitting alone on the ground. 

It was only when Dr. Delarosa himself came to inspect him that he snapped to attention. The father of the weird guy who had popped up out of nowhere to save him. Not wanting to sound crazy, he told the doctor in response to what happened, “Harry… He pushed me out of the way. He saved my life.”

“You’re very lucky, then,” the doctor stated calmly, seeming to brush off the declaration of a life saving action.

“I don’t even know how he got to me, he was so far away, I saw him-” He rambled, looking at the floor, his hands moving up and down insistently as he racked his brain trying to even explain it to himself.

The doctor interrupted him, in another gentle tone, addressing his mother this time. “Looks like he might have a concussion,” he explained with a smile, before looking back to Louis. “You probably hit your head. Just head on home and get some rest, I’m sure that was very frightening.” Louis shut up after that. Any more of that kind of talk might end up getting him sent for a mental evaluation.

Instead, he quietly got up with his mom, who walked him out of the building. She went with him towards her car, and Louis followed, until he caught sight of Harry.

There on the sidewalk by the building was Harry, looking like a normal person. None of the supernatural power that Louis had seen before, none of the burn in his eyes when they had looked at each other when Harry had his cold hand on Louis’ chest. For some reason, Louis expected him to look different. The strength and speed he had seen before in that moment was no longer there, though, and Harry seemed as regular as anyone else. Other than being unnaturally attractive. 

With him was another one of the Delarosa’s- Zayn, who was pointing a finger accusingly at the other and seemed to be heated about something. Right away, Louis’ curiosity peaked, sure it had at least something to do with whatever the hell had just happened. It was hard to catch anything they were saying, but he caught just a tidbit when Zayn raised his voice for a moment; “-Puts all of us in danger!” What did that mean?

“Hey, mum, I’m going to walk back to the school. Need to pick up my car,” Louis explained, and despite a short protest from her he just kissed her cheek and headed off towards the two boys nearby. Both looked over as soon as Louis approached, and Zayn seemed to scoff before crossing his arms and promptly walked away.

Swallowing, Louis stopped a few feet back from Harry. “Hey, uhm… Can we talk?”

Shrugging, Harry sighed, and waved him over. Both of the boys walked around the corner of the building, led by Harry, and now in privacy, Louis shot off with questions right away.

“How- How did you do that?”

“Do what?” Harry replied innocently, but Louis wasn’t having any of it. 

“You stopped the truck with your fucking hand, I saw it. And, you were all the way… You were on the other side of the lot, by your car. I know what I saw,” He insisted, refusing to brush it off anymore as some kind of hallucination. Harry now had a look of mild amusement on his face, scoffing quietly.

“Uhm… No, I wasn’t. I didn’t stop it, how would I do that? I was right by you, I just got in front of you. We were just lucky it stopped when it did.”

“You didn’t, just tell me how you did it because right now I think I’m going crazy,” Louis breathed, exasperated, worried already that maybe this move had done too much in his head and perhaps he wasn’t seeing reality correctly.

“Look, Louis, I just pushed you back. The truck stopped on its own,” the other explained, although his voice had hardened a bit. Still as if he was trying to seem calm, but underneath the facade, he seemed frustrated.

“So, what, thin air put a damn dent in the side of that thing?”

Harry shrugged, glancing away from him for a moment. “Look, we’re both just lucky to be alive, right? How about you just put it behind you. Forget about it.”

Louis huffed, looking at Harry, still so sure that there was no way he was just imagining all of this. He remembered the crunch of metal, the firm, cold hand on his chest. The unbelievable moment when he finally opened his eyes to see Harry holding him back, the other’s eyes wide as if he was shocked even with himself.

“Your hand,” he recalled, reaching out to Harry, making a move to grab his fingers that he remembered feeling like ice. The other boy drew back quickly, taking a step away, denying Louis touching him. He moved so quickly as if it was instinctual for him to avoid the contact. “It was so cold,” Louis breathed, looking back up at him.

Finally, Harry had dropped his rather casually amused facial expression. It was replaced with an almost angry look, and he clicked his tongue. “You know what… Fine, just be ungrateful. Forget about it.” With that, Harry stepped around him, walking away towards Zayn, who was already waiting for him leaned on their car. Zayn shot him a look, and an up-and-down glare, as Louis watched as both boys got in, and peeled out of the lot, disappearing down the road in seconds.

\---

Louis spent the following evening questioning his sanity. Google became his best friend, and the slow internet that plagued the area his enemy. After hours of researching things like adrenaline rushes, anemia, anything at all that could explain what happened. In the end, it boiled down to Louis having a post-traumatic hallucination or confusion from a concussion that he didn’t remember receiving. Nothing else could answer to the fact that Louis’ understanding was that Harry had stopped a truck with his hand.

His fucking hand.Cold as ice, but strong and firm on his chest, holding him back from certain death.

School the next day wasn’t any less stressful, as all the other students were urgently reminding him about the incident. The wildest thing was that, based on everyone else’s recounting of the event, no one had seen Harry anywhere near him at all. Everyone was just amazed that Louis was so lucky, that the truck had come to a stop just before it hit him, That he hadn’t been hurt at all. Not one person mentioned Harry, in fact, Angela noted to him that she thought it was rude that none of the Delarosa’s had checked on him after the incident like nearly everyone else did. It was as if Louis really had imagined that whole part, that maybe Harry and his good looks had somehow wormed his way into Louis’ mind to fill a gap where Louis should have died but was just lucky to be alive. 

Lunch came, and the Delarosa’s were all sitting at their table as usual, and just like every other day, none of them had any food in front of them. Angela told him a few days before that it was because they were all on a weird ‘diet’ that Dr. Delarosa had put all of them on, and that apparently it worked since they were so fit. On top of that, they all seemed much more serious than usual, which was definitely saying something considering how quiet they always were. Each couple was seated with concerned expressions, other than Harry, who was turned away from them, scanning the room. He would focus on each person, one by one, as if thinking about them for a few moments before moving onto the next.

Niall, the only one of the Delarosa’s who regularly looked rather chipper, was leaning towards Harry, insistently trying to get his attention. The rest of lunch went like that, Louis occasionally looking over to see Harry brushing Niall off, and the other kids in the group shooting glares at him. None of this made Louis feel any better about whether or not it had all happened. Sure, all his classmates never mentioned seeing the mysterious boy, but the Delarosa’s were all acting as if Harry had done something terrible.

After lunch, unlike any other day, it wasn’t time for English. Instead, along with the rest of his Biology class, he headed outside. A yellow school bus was parked in front of the doors, ready to take the class to their field trip. They were headed for the Chehalis Nature Reserve, for a short day trip to ‘see the nature’. It felt pointless to Louis, who couldn’t help but feel like they practically lived in the wilderness anyway. On top of that, it was still freezing outside. It was breezy, the ground still wet with a morning rainstorm, and the whole class headed out in windbreakers and rain boots that they’d been informed to bring for the chilly excursion.

They all checked in with the teacher, and once all accounted for, he announced, “Alright, no shenanigans on the bus. Everyone sits with their lab partner- no exceptions.” This earned boos from the students, but Louis smirked at it. Harry would have no choice but to sit next to him for at least thirty full minutes; no exceptions.

The teacher started calling out pairs of names, and after going through most of them, he called, “Harry Delarosa and Louis Tomlinson.” Louis started to step forward, but Harry hurried in front of him, so Louis fell in step behind him. The other marched right to a seat towards the front of the bus, taking an empty seat just a few rows back from the driver. Nearly all the other students had opted for the back, leaving them a few seats of radius. Louis sighed and sat next to him on the aisle, setting his backpack at his feet.

“Well, get on with it,” Harry grumbled, looking out the window. 

“You don’t have to be so glum. If you just answered it would be over with.”

“I had an adrenaline rush, it’s very common,” Harry answered bluntly. 

“Oh, so that made you lightening fucking fast? Nobody even saw you. Literally everyone thought your whole family was on the other side of the lot and they all saw you drive off right after.”

“Just drop it. Look, is that all you’re ever going to ask me about?” Harry sighed, glancing up as the teacher started speaking again. They were both quiet as a paper was passed back seat by seat, each student taking one as the bus finally started on its way to the park. A checklist, each one marked with a point value and a small picture example.

“Mark off everything you see, and for everything with a 5 or 10 point value take a picture on your phone for credit. The group with the highest point value gets extra points on the next test. Please take note of the ‘avoid’ column. I don’t want anyone getting hurt or lost. Everyone stays on marked paths, and nobody goes in the water. If you see any animal on the avoid list please don’t approach it, and return to the starting point. On the back is a map of the paths.”

The first item on the avoid section, Louis saw, was ‘bears’. “There are bears here? Jesus, America is dangerous,” he grumbled, reading on to see cougars, coyotes, bobcats and moose.

“Yeah, so don’t wander off, because I’m not saving you again,” Harry whispered in response, earning a quip from the teacher to quiet down. 

With a sigh, Louis complied to the order to be silent. Perhaps that was another reason Harry had picked to sit here, not to just keep away from other students during Louis’ questioning, but to stay close enough to the teacher sat in the front that they’d have to be quiet.

They rode the rest of the way in silence, although it wasn’t too much further from there. The ride was scenic, more so than Louis was expecting being as he couldn’t imagine anymore wilderness than what they saw within town. During the ride he looked out the front windshield, trying to avoid staring out their window since Harry was occupying that space. It was gorgeous, he had to admit, thick with greenery and glistening with dew. It was relieving not to see any of the dangerous wildlife that had been mentioned before, because if there was anywhere to expect it, he knew he’d see it here. 

When the bus finally came to a stop, it was in a small clearing, just a gravel place designated as the trail head. Parked parallel, the rest of the lot empty, everyone meandered off the bus. Most of the students, especially the Delarosa’s, seemed uninterested, as if they had been here twenty too many times. Messing around on their phones, glancing around plainly, kicking their feet in the gravel in boredom. The teacher began pointing out the different paths to the left and right, but Louis felt like he was the only one paying attention, the only one not overly familiar with the area.

After a few minutes of explanation, and Louis being glad that Harry would be familiar with this, the teacher sent them off. It wasn’t like the kind of field trip that he was used to, in which all the students would walk in a herd behind the teacher. Rather, all the pairs just calmly started off walking in various directions, chattering with each other to discuss which way they wanted to go and how far they wanted to go. Louis was taken out of his thoughts when Harry stepped ahead a bit, to turn around and ask him, “Well? Which way do you want to go?”

Louis paused, having not really considered the question. So he just stated the first path that came to mind, the one the teacher had said led to the riverside. “To the left, I guess,” he stated with a shrug. Harry gave a curt nod and walked in that direction, Louis falling in step a bit behind him. The air was humid, but cold, biting his nose but still forcing him to breathe deeply to get enough air.

The small class had spread out quite a bit, and after only about five minutes and a few forks in the path, Louis couldn’t see any of their other classmates around. “Do you know where you’re going?” He couldn’t help but asking, worried about getting lost in such a thick wooded area. 

“For sure, no problem,” Harry shrugged, seeming calm, but focused on the path ahead. More so like he was avoiding Louis than trying to navigate.

But Louis wasn’t going to have that. This was the most confusing, disturbing thing that had happened in his life, and Louis wasn’t the type to let things like this pass by quietly. “So you did save me, right?”

Harry momentarily glanced back at him, giving a bit of a squint. “What do you mean?”

“No one else saw you,” he explained, catching up to Harry’s side, knowing maybe the other would be more willing to talk if he spoke quieter. “It was like you weren’t even there.”

“Look, please just stop asking,” Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair. Perfect hair, thick and smooth, Louis had already noted more than once. His skin was fair and free of blemishes, muscles looking firm but not overly obvious. Just a perfect form, attractive and unusual for the average high schooler.

“I’m not going to. Don’t you get it? I literally just had the most insane possible thing happen to me. I watched you stop a truck with your hand-”

“No, I didn’t,” Harry interrupted, but Louis wasn’t having it.

“Yes, you did! I saw it! The dent wasn’t there before, and that thing was flying towards me. You seriously expect me to believe it just magically stopped on its own?”

Harry gave a scoff, glancing over at him. He didn’t answer for a moment, but Louis waited, seeing the wheels turning in the other’s head and knowing he was thinking up some kind of answer. “So what? So what if I did stop it, then? What does that change? Why are you digging into it so much?”

Honestly, Louis hadn’t thought that far into it. Here Harry was, basically admitting that he did stop it, but he couldn’t figure out how to follow up to that. “Well… How, how did you do it, then?”

Sighing, Harry shrugged, and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m secretly a super powered gorilla in a human suit. How about that?” He looked to Louis, who was just giving him a glare through squinted eyes, clearly communicating that it wasn’t sufficient. “What do you think, then? I’m sure you’ve been sitting at home googling it.”

By this time, they had reached a downward slope on the path. The trees thinned out on the left, revealing loud, rushing water. It was pretty, and served a bit to calm Louis down. He was in the middle of a trail in the woods with some guy who had some weird super strength abilities. He tried to relax, just watching the water for a moment. “Nevermind. Let’s just do the assignment for now, we haven’t even looked at it.”

Harry dropped his shoulders, as if relieving the same feelings of tension. “Right, sounds good.”

From that point, they traipsed around, trying to identify plants based off of the grainy black and white photos on the paper. They checked the items off as they went, inspecting each one and listing the qualities of each required on the paper. However, Harry was flying through it. Louis would look all around desperately trying to find something, while Harry would just glance to the side and gesture, “Bittercress. Write white flowers, brown stem, small leaves.”

“Bracken, write down coiled heads, wide base of fern leaves.”

On and on it went, Louis copying down everything Harry told him. The first few times he would inspect the plant himself, make sure he actually knew what he was talking about. Surely enough though, he was eventually assured there was no need to check, and he just wrote it all down. This made it easy enough, and within an hour they had flown through most of the paper. It seemed most of what was left was only extra credit, and Louis could live without that. What was so strange was that Harry seemed able to just give a short look at a plant or bug from feet away and would just list off the elements of it off the top of his head. 

“Do you like botany?” He asked, once they had turned around and were following the trail back to the head. “You know a lot of this stuff already.”

“I’ve just lived here a long enough time. There isn’t much else to do in this area other than hiking. And this isn’t too far from my house, a lot of this stuff is in my backyard.”

“Huh. That’s fair enough. I guess I’ll have to warm up to hiking more, then. Do you ever go to Seattle, though? I’m going this weekend to see what there is to do.”

“By yourself?” Harry questioned, turning his head to look at him.

“Well, I’m meeting Jessica down there for lunch, but she’s going dress shopping for prom after and I’m going to go find something else to do.”

Harry looked like he was thinking for a moment, then shrugged. “Alright, well, just be careful. Seattle can be dangerous at night just like anywhere else so don’t do too much wandering.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright mom,” Louis chuckled with a roll of his eyes. Thoughtfully, he looked down at the ground, kicking his foot at a stone step by step. “Do you want to meet me there?”

“Huh?” The other seemed taken aback by the question, as if he wasn’t used to being asked something like that. Louis didn’t doubt it, since the Delarosa’s kept to themselves so much.

“Meet me down there, find something to do. That way you can make sure I don’t have another near death experience.” Louis was smiling, offering kindly. After all, Harry had saved him, and the other boy was attractive to all hell. Even if he wasn’t gay, it was nice to be able to look at such a handsome face.

“No, sorry, I… Don’t really think that’s a good idea.” Harry sighed, his head rolling back a moment. Just then, they had come up to the trail’s exit, and in sight were a few of the other students gathered by the bus waiting to leave. “Look, it’s just better if we don’t. My family, we’re not really keen on going out, that’s all. Especially since you think I’m some kind of superhero.”

“Well, you did-”

“Look, we’re around everyone else, let’s not talk about it right now.”

\---

They boarded the bus silently, and despite having so many questions before, Louis couldn’t think of another conversation to start. So he avoided it, scrolling on his phone and avoiding the urge to bring something to talk about up.

Once the bus arrived back at the school, they all handed their papers in, and by then it was already more than halfway through the last class period of the day and they were allowed to head back to their cars and head home. Just before he walked off, Louis looked to Harry, who had turned to stroll to his car.

“Harry?” He called, though it drew the attention of every Delarosa he was walking with. He blanked for a moment, overwhelmed with the stares coming from the entire family, but he caught his breath and said, “If you do want to come, tomorrow, if you change your mind, do you want my number?”

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, as everyone else in the family slowly looked to Harry, who shuffled his feet before walking up to Louis. “Sure, here,” he hummed, unlocking his phone and holding it out to him. Zayn made a far too obvious motion of rolling his eyes before turning and continuing off to his car, trailed by the rest of the family shooting glances backwards at them. All the while, Louis was putting his number into the phone, having to take a moment to recall his new phone number. “I know it’s a long drive, so whatever I do, I’m having dinner around 7 and then heading home. Just let me know if you’re coming.”

Harry nodded, and put his phone away when Louis held it out to him. “Alright. And… Sorry if they’re staring at you. The rest of my family, I mean. They’re shut-ins. We all are.”

“Whatever, I get it. You’re probably all weird superhumans-”

“Ah, ah, please don’t. Just, don’t say that. Between you and me, alright? Just don’t mention what happened yesterday to anyone, seeing me or anything. Please. Like you said, everyone’s just going to think you’re crazy.”

It didn’t do anything to soothe Louis, but he nodded reluctantly. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Good. I’ll text you, have a good night.” With that, Harry turned, and jogged to catch up to the rest of his strange family.

**Author's Note:**

> Not to ruin the mood, but I tried to use a title generator to think of something to name this story. I unwittingly used a title generator meant for clickbait articles. Can’t help but post the highlights of what I received after searching the keyword ‘vampire’.
> 
> -If VAMPIRE Is So Terrible, Why Don't Statistics Show It?  
-Why VAMPIRE Is No Friend To Small Business  
-How To Get (A) Fabulous VAMPIRE On A Tight Budget  
-VAMPIRE: Do You Really Need It? This Will Help You Decide!  
-Fear? Not If You Use VAMPIRE The Right Way!  
-Why My VAMPIRE Is Better Than Yours  
-Don't Fall For This VAMPIRE Scam  
-Congratulations! Your VAMPIRE Is (Are) About To Stop Being Relevant
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading ya'll.


End file.
